Installation

Install the CLI

npm

bash npm install -D chronus

pnpm

bash pnpm add -D chronus

yarn

bash yarn add -D chronus

npx (no install)

bash npx chronus

Initialize configuration

Create a .chronus/config.yaml file in the root of your monorepo:

.chronus/config.yaml

# Changelog generator — use "basic" or "@chronus/github/changelog" for PR links
changelog: basic

# Change kinds — customize the categories for your changelog
changeKinds:
  breaking:
    versionType: major
  feature:
    versionType: minor
  fix:
    versionType: patch
  internal:
    versionType: none

# Optional: filter which file changes require a changelog entry
changedFiles:
  - "!**/*.md"
  - "!**/*.test.ts"

Workspace detection

Chronus auto-detects your monorepo setup. It supports:

Environment	Detection
pnpm	pnpm-workspace.yaml
npm	package.json with workspaces field
Rush	rush.json
Cargo	Cargo.toml with workspace section

See Supported Environments for full details.

Basic workflow

1. Make changes to your packages
2. Add a changelog entry: npx chronus add
3. Verify all changed packages have entries: npx chronus verify
4. Bump versions and generate changelogs: npx chronus version
5. Pack packages for publishing: npx chronus pack

GitHub integration

For GitHub-enhanced changelogs with PR numbers and commit links, install the GitHub plugin:

npm install -D @chronus/github

Then update your config:

changelog: "@chronus/github/changelog"

See the Changelog Generator guide for details.

Next steps

• CLI Reference — Full command documentation
• Change Kinds — Customize changelog categories
• Version Policies — Independent vs. lockstep versioning
• Prereleases — Automatic prerelease version bumps